About Lake Peak Associates

Lake Peak Associates was founded in 2009. Currently, Donald W. Stout is the sole principal of the company.

Donald has been a CPA practicing in New Mexico since 1998. He received a Master of Business Administration degree from the Anderson School of Management at the University of New Mexico in December of 1996. His concentration was in accounting. While at the Anderson School, he received the Anderson/Roberts Fellowship, the Paul J. Vollmer, Jr. Scholarship in Accounting, and the Anderson Foundation Board Fellowship.

Prior to earning his M.B.A, Donald received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa.

Donald began his CPA career as a staff accountant at a local Santa Fe firm specializing in tax. He was the Controller and CFO of a Family Office in Santa Fe for eleven years. In this capacity, he performed investment portfolio and private investment accounting and administration, cash flow projection and management, private foundation accounting, and administration of business entities and personal affairs. He also provided coordination and planning with outside legal, accounting, and investment advisors.

Donald has been a speaker at the New Mexico Tax Conference and the New Mexico Family Law Institute.

In a volunteer capacity, Donald was the President, Treasurer and Board Member of the Santa Fe Human Rights Alliance from 2000 through 2008, and he was the Co-chair of the gay pride committee for seven years. He was one of the 2008 “10 Who Made a Difference” recipients awarded by the Santa Fe New Mexican, and he received the 2008 HRA Treasure Award for his work towards achieving full civil rights for all LGBTQ people in New Mexico.

Donald has been with his partner and husband, Chuck Higgins, since 2001. They became legally married in 2011. Donald moved to Santa Fe in 1984 from his native Texas and has never looked back. He enjoys gardening, cooking, hiking, films, dinner parties, and four resident cats.

What is Lake Peak?

Lake Peak is a rugged mountain just above Santa Fe in the Sangre de Cristo Range of the southern Rocky Mountains. With a summit at 12,404 feet above sea level, Lake Peak is among the highest mountains in New Mexico. Starting at the Santa Fe ski basin, a hike to Lake Peak and back can be done in a day by anyone in good physical condition. The trail goes through spruce, fir and aspen forest, with several viewpoints along the way, until it emerges into a high alpine meadow above the tree line. In a deep canyon off the north flank of Lake Peak is Nambé Lake, the source of Rio Nambé. To the southwest is the Rio Santa Fe watershed, the original source of Santa Fe’s water that still provides 40% of the city’s annual supply. Lake Peak is sharp, rocky and rugged. The final ascent takes careful attention and focus, but the vista of the Rio Grande Valley thousands of feet below and the mountain ranges far to the west, north, and south is stunning.

We think our logo with the stylized image of Lake Peak and the suggestion of water by the two wavy blue lines below evokes a sense of our values as human beings as well as our business values. We strive for the peak of success in attaining our goals and living our values. We try to work in harmony with the natural flow of events as they unfold.